Living Today

Articles from Christian teachers and leaders. Designed to help you as you follow Jesus here in the Cook Islands

The Cross at Easter

The cross is an important symbol during Easter, reminding us of the incredible sacrifice Jesus made. Despite all of our struggles and pain, the cross reminds us we are not alone in this world. We can find strength and comfort knowing that Jesus has already saved us from our sins.

It’s this hope for redemption through Christ’s death on the cross that makes Easter such an integral part of Christian tradition. Stu Millar from Train to Proclaim recently shared on Vision Chrisitan Media his thoughts on how we can use the wonderful opportunities Easter creates to share our faith with others.

‘Without the cross, and the resurrection of Jesus, what do we have?’ says Stu. ‘I don’t even know whether the world would still be around today if it wasn’t for Jesus dying on the cross. As Christians, this is our holiest time of year because the heart of the gospel message is Jesus’s sacrificial death for us.’

Reconciled to God

Stu says that while we don’t worship the cross, we certainly have it on top of churches and in assemblies for a very good reason. It’s the centre of the Christian faith. Without the cross, there is no way for us to have a relationship with God. By paying that punishment on the cross, Jesus makes it possible for us to be reconciled.

‘The image of Jesus on the cross is remembering His humanity,’ says Stu. ‘It represents the sacrifice and the suffering He went through. His arms are open wide towards humanity. There are a lot of positives of capturing that point in time. But I like an empty cross because I know that He’s not still there.’

Stu says for a lot of Christians, their focus is more on the resurrection and the victory that Christ has won for us. He’s risen from the dead and He’s alive. But a real richness can also be found in understanding the suffering, because that point on the cross when Jesus took our sin was the game changer for humanity.

Jesus Was Born to Die

‘Jesus was born to die,’ says Stu. ‘He was born to suffer. He was born to pay that punishment in our place. And without it, none of humanity could be saved. It’s a glorious moment for us, but under terrible circumstances.’

‘Christmas and Easter are definitely easier times to share our faith,’ says Stu. ‘People seem to be of good cheer. There’s a holiday coming up. There’s Easter eggs. They may have the completely wrong idea about Easter, but they’ve still got a positive view to some degree.’

‘Deep down, every single one of us has a hole in us that can only be filled by God.’

Article by Melinda McCredie, Vision Christian Media 

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When You Die! (2)

‘When we die and leave this earthly body, we will have a house in Heaven.’ 2 Corinthians 5:1 NLT

When you die, you simply leave one form of life and enter another. Consider the first law of thermodynamics: neither energy (as in your soul and spirit) nor matter (as in your body) can be destroyed. They can be transformed into other forms, but they can’t be annihilated.

Burris Jenkins said it this way: ‘No single atom in creation can go out of existence, according to the scientists; it only changes in form. We cannot burn up anything; we simply change it from a solid to a gaseous state. Neither is any energy or force ever destroyed; it is only changed from one form to another.’ If a person actually ceased to exist, they would be the one thing in the world that does.

So when you die, what happens? The Bible says: ‘We know that when this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a house in Heaven for us to live in… which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from Heaven should be put on over us; by being clothed with it… it is not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be transformed by life. God… gave us His Spirit as the guarantee of all that He has in store for us.’ (2 Corinthians 5:1–5 GNT)

Think of it like this: your last day on earth will be your best day ever! How awesome is that?

SoulFood: [bible passage=”Lev 23:15–22, Acts 2:1–18″ version=”esv” heading=”H3″]

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©